


Led by a beating heart

by whynotcherries



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Dave (Umbrella Academy) Lives, Dave Deserves Better, Eudora Patch Lives, Gen, Ghost Ben Hargreeves, Good Sibling Number Five | The Boy, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Just in general, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Luther friendly, M/M, No Apocalypse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Protective Siblings, Protective Vanya Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, The Hargreeves love Dave, They bring back Dave, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, no beta we die like ben, the siblings like dave a lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:06:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22029700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whynotcherries/pseuds/whynotcherries
Summary: Five shows up in Klaus's room a week after they prevent the Apocalypse to announce that they can go back in time to save Dave and bring him back to the future.
Relationships: Dave & Eudora Patch, Dave/Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves/Eudora Patch, Klaus Hargreeves & Everyone, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 23
Kudos: 263





	1. Cutting out a different path

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing Dave, so I'm combining certain character traits/things he said in other fics I've read to build the character, seeing as we didn't get enough of him to really know how he is.

Five walks into the kitchen, finding Diego after having searched the house. He jumps to where he’s standing next to the stove, effectively making Diego flinch back.

He doesn’t give him time to complain before he starts talking, “Has Klaus been acting strange to you?” he asks, standing up straighter.

Diego turns back to whatever he was making, shaking his head, “Everyone has been acting strange. We just survived the apocalypse,” he excuses, stirring what Five guesses are mashed potatoes around in a pot, “he did mention that he time travelled, though, before.”

Five nods, going to sit on the table, feet on a chair, “He mentioned that to me, too. Did he tell you where he went?” he asks.

“Vietnam, during the war. Apparently, he fought in the front lines with some guy. Dave, I think was his name?” he turns the stove off, turning around to face Five, “Why do you ask? And, I just made enough potatoes for an army, feel free to take some,” he scoops some into a bowl before going to sit at the table. Five does the same.

“As little as I show it, I’m quite fond of Klaus. If he lost someone in the war, the only reason saving them would affect our timeline is if something were to change with the way Klaus experienced his death before,” he explains, shoveling a spoonful of food into his mouth. 

Diego drops his fork into his bowl, splashing them onto the table, “Wait, so, you’re considering time travelling again to bring back a dead soldier? I thought you were avoiding that,” he wipes the splatter of potatoes off of the table with a paper towel.

Five nods, “I am. But, if we were to take the briefcase, bring back the guy, and come right home, well… I think that would do more good for Klaus than harm to anything else,” Diego looks at him like he’s not understanding any of his reasoning, “Klaus came back and spent what he thought would be the last three days of his life going through withdrawal in order to speak to this soldier one more time, if I’m understanding. So, bringing him back, well… it might make Klaus a little happier, again.”

Diego’s lip curls up in a smile, “You’d do that just for Klaus to be happy?” 

Five shakes his head, “I’d do that to get my brother back. My still sober, _happy_ brother back,” he takes the last bite of his food, “I need to go and find Klaus now,” he mumbles, jumping to place his plate in the sink and then out of the room.

* * *

Five finds Klaus in the first place he looks- his room. He jumps up behind Klaus, not unlike what he did with Diego, and finds that he’s trying to plug in a pair of headphones to the phone that Allison bought for him. _“We all need to be able to reach each other at all times, now,”_ she’d said. Five couldn’t agree more.

Klaus doesn’t notice that Five is there for a few minutes, until he turns around after turning on his music, “Dear m- God, Five!” he exclaims, turning around to find Five standing not even an inch from him, “what do you need?” he sighs, yanking out his headphones.

Five takes a moment to prepare himself from any reaction he may earn- he’s hoping that he’ll be able to help his brother (he’d never say that, of course), but he’s also worried that if he brings back the man that Klaus was staying sober to find, he might risk a relapse. 

This doesn’t stop Five from sitting himself on top of Klaus’s desk and saying, “The soldier- your boyfriend, or whatever- we can go back to save him,” Klaus pulls the most confused face Five has ever seen, and he sighs, “it wouldn’t affect the timeline if done right.”

Klaus stands completely still for a minute before practically pouncing on Five, pulling him from the desk. To Klaus’s surprise, Five let’s him hug him for a whole two seconds before he shoves him off, straightening out his clothes, “How will we save him, though? He was shot right through the chest.” 

Klaus tilts his head in confusion as Five responds. “I’ve modified the serum that Reginald used on Luther. I’ve tested it on various subjects, and in its current stage, it hasn’t turned anyone into an _ape_. I think it would work on your soldier,” he states, “I’ll go grab it and the briefcase, and then we can go,” he says, starting to walk towards the door, but Klaus grabs his arm.

He turns, a murderous gleam in his eyes, “Wait- just- shouldn’t we tell the others? Luther and Diego have been on edge for weeks now, what will they do to him if we don’t tell them first?” Five stands staring at him, exasperated, “I’ll call a family meeting. You grab the stuff we need,” he says, leaving before Five can protest.

* * *

Vanya stares at Klaus. Everyone else seems to have checked out, being too much in shock to say anything, “So, you’re going back in the past to save a soldier from the _Vietnam war_ , which you apparently fought in, but didn’t tell anyone but Five and Diego?” she clarifies, her voice slowly raising.

He looks up at her and nods, “Yep, sounds accurate to me,” he agrees, looking down at her, “but don't worry, Five’s coming, and we should be back within a few minutes,” he assures, “well, a few minutes for you guys. Might take a bit longer for us,” he mumbles.

Allison shakes her head, looking up at Klaus, “Are you sure that this is a good idea? What if you get stuck again?” she asks, tilting her head to the side.

He puts his hand on his chest, feigning offense, “Excuse me, _meine schwester_ , but _I_ didn’t get stuck in the past. I chose to stay for the soldier we’re trying to go save. Five is the one who gets stuck in time,” he defends. 

Vanya sticks her head up, “I think you should try it,” after getting looks from the rest of her siblings (beside Five and Diego), she perks up, “What?! If he really loves Dave and if they’re _careful_ ,” she gives a pointed look to Klaus, who nods, “what’s there to lose?” she asks.

Everyone else is silent, looking between her and Klaus, “Anyway, I’m willing to help if you need anything,” she adds, flopping back into the couch. Ever since Vanya had gotten off her meds, she’s been a little- no, a lot bolder than she was before- which causes her to say things like this. Klaus is a fan of it.

He smiles at her, “Thank you, my dear,” he looks around at everyone else, “so, we’ll be going when I find Five. Tootles,” he says, waving, ignoring his family calling after him.

* * *

“You ready?” Five asks, the serum in his pocket and the briefcase on the table in front of them.

Klaus nods, looking up at him, “I was ready the second I left.”

Five, as empathetic as he is, doesn’t know how to respond to Klaus’s show of emotion. So, rather than respond, he opens the briefcase, and in a flash, Klaus and Five jump.

Five recovers from the fall first, reaching over and shaking Klaus. Gunfire can be heard from where they are- about a mile away, “I’m goin’- stay here,” Five says, standing and jumping, as planned.

And for the first time in two weeks, Klaus is alone in Vietnam.


	2. This is your heart (Can you feel it?)

It doesn’t take long for Five to find Dave. Based on the way Klaus had described both him and his injury, there was no doubt that the man he’d found lying in the trenches, unmoving, surrounded by gunfire, was Dave.

He leaps forwards, narrowly avoiding a bullet, and latches onto Dave. 

For a moment, he wonders how Klaus managed to survive this, being surrounded by all of the gunfire when he had such a hatred for loud, sudden noises.

He doesn’t give himself much time to think about that before he pushes through space and lands right back where he’d told Klaus to wait. Klaus, who’s sitting on the ground against a tree, playing with a blade of grass while he waits.

The second he sees the flash, he fumbles to his feet. Five and Dave land right in front of him. Dave’s lying on the ground in practically the same position that Klaus had left him in, “Oh my god,” he cries, falling to his side. 

He moves up, caressing his face, and Five chooses that moment to stab him in the chest with his serum. Klaus whips around to glare at him, “What? We had to do it sooner or later,” he shrugs, “speaking of which, we need to get home,” he says, reaching for Klaus’s hand.

He pulls back, “Wait, wait, wait- are you sure it’s safe for him to time travel like this?” he asks.

Five is absolutely seething by now, “Yes, I’m sure! Trust me, it’s gonna hurt him a lot more if he’s awake,” he says, holding his hand back out for Klaus to grab. 

Klaus nods, relenting. Five squeezes his hand, and with one hand, opens the briefcase. 

Suddenly, they’re back in 2019, in the middle of their living room, surrounded by all of Klaus’s siblings. They all let out similar cries of shock before immediately jumping to their feet to help. 

Vanya crouches beside Klaus, putting her hand on his shoulder. Sometime between Five returning with Dave and now, Klaus had started crying, hot tears falling down his face. He turns around, looking up at her, “What can I do?” she asks gently.

He swallows thickly, holding back a sob, “Can you get Mom?” he asks, and she nods before standing and bolting to go look for Grace in another room. 

He turns to Luther- he hasn’t exactly trusted him lately, having witnessed what he did to Vanya and to himself, but he supposes he’ll have to right now, “Can you help me get him up? He should be in the infirmary,” he says.

Diego shakes his head, interjecting, “Don’t, I’ll go grab a stretcher,” he says, squeezing Luther’s shoulder before breaking into a run.

Klaus, turning back to look at Dave, and let’s out a sob, curling in on himself a little bit. Allison reaches over and puts a hand on Klaus’s shoulder before rubbing up and down his back. As she moves a little closer, she can hear him mumbling, “Please be okay, please, please, please,” and her heart breaks for him.

“He’ll be okay, honey,” she whispers, her motherly side shining through as she moves around to his side to look at him, “Vanya’s getting Mom right now, she’ll take care of him,” she assures.

As if on cue, Vanya and Grace both come rushing in at roughly the same time that Diego comes back pushing a wheeled stretcher, “Oh dear,” Grace says, moving a little faster. The kids on Daves left side move, making space for her to see his chest. 

She kneels down and looks at it for a moment, before standing, “Let’s put him on the stretcher. Vanya, can you lower it, please?” she asks, and Vanya quickly does what she’s asked. Diego steps forwards, helping Grace lift Dave the small amount of space it takes to get him on the stretcher.

They lift the stretcher back up and Klaus rises with it, refusing to let go of Dave’s hand. They start trying to push the stretcher back to the infirmary, but they quickly find it to be a struggle while Klaus is hanging on. Both Grace and Diego stop pushing the cart, and Grace turns to look at Klaus, “Klaus, sweetheart,” she flinches in a way that’s almost too human for a robot when Klaus glares at her.

Vanya comes up behind him, putting her hand on his shoulder, “Come on, you can hold onto me until we get there,” she offers, and he pulls back from Dave. The second that he’s detached himself, Diego and Grace start moving faster, trying to get there as soon as they can.

Once they arrive in the infirmary, the bed is placed in the middle of the room and locked into place. Grace immediately starts acting. She peels back his army vest, Diego helping take it off of him. He passes it to Klaus, who’s taken to holding onto Dave’s foot. 

She wastes no time cutting his shirt, seeing as it’s already been stained with blood and has a hole in the middle. She inspects his chest some more, looking up, “His chest is healing nicely, but his pulse is weak and he’s running a fever. He needs blood,” she says, looking around at her children as she runs the calculation for his blood type.

“He shares your blood type.” She states, and instantly, all of the Hargreeves kids offer. 

Vanya pushes through, moving towards Grace, “Let me do it,” she says, rolling up her sleeve. Grace upcaps the needle, and immediately, Diego turns pale, “I’ll be fine, Di,” she assures, sitting down in the chair next to the counter. 

Grace takes her blood and hooks the bag up to Dave. Diego and Vanya head to the kitchen so Diego can make her some food, since she’s feeling lightheaded after giving blood.

Klaus pulls a chair up to the bed, sitting beside Dave, “He’ll be okay, right?” he asks Grace, looking up at her with pleading eyes.

She nods, “The serum that your brother used is the equivalent of a fast-acting healer. He should be awake soon,” she explains, going around to his side of the bed. She squeezes his shoulder, “I’ll go make you some cookies,” she beams, turning around and leaving the room. 

Klaus leans over, putting his hand on Dave’s cheek and leaning forwards to kiss his other one, “I missed you, Davey,” he whispers, taking a moment to revel in what his Mom had said.

Dave would be just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have a theory that somehow, all of the kids have the same blood type, whether it be some weird thing Reggie did to them in order to help when they're hurt, or if it has something to do with their weird birth thing. That's why they all offered when Grace said that he shares their blood type (I mostly have this idea since all of the boys offered to donate blood when Allison was hurt). 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all liked this! Please comment and leave kudos if you want!


	3. The tears you cry, I'll dry them all away

Dave, was, in fact, doing just fine. 

Apart from the fact that he hasn’t woken up yet, he’s been almost entirely normal- running a low-grade fever that’s been wavering between 99 and 100 degrees, maybe, but that’s the extent of it. 

Klaus hasn’t left his side since they got to the infirmary, with the exception of the few times he left to go to the bathroom. Even then, he’d had someone come sit with Dave in case he woke up while Klaus was away. 

That was the thing he hated the most about trips to the hospital when he OD’d. Waking up by himself with all of the lights and the machines connected to him. Something about it made him feel smaller.

Now, he’s still sitting here. Vanya had come to keep him company around an hour ago, bringing along _yet another_ plate of cookies. In the past day, he’d received at least three plates of cookies from Mom- not that he didn’t appreciate it- he did. However, he’s been so nervous that he can barely eat one off of each of them.

Even now, Vanya can tell, seeing him sitting restlessly on the counter. “Maybe you should go and shower. Some real food couldn’t hurt, either. I’ll sit with him, you go. Ben’ll come to get you if something happens, won’t you, Ben?” she asks.

Klaus manifests Ben for the second it takes for him to reply, “Yep!”

He looks back to the bed in the middle of the room, hesitant to leave, “Promise you won’t leave him here alone?” he asks, jittering as he looks back up at his sister.

She nods from across the room, “Not even to go to the bathroom. I’ll go get Mom if I need to,” she promises.

He waits for a second, weighing his options. He decides that, really, there’s nobody better to leave him with than Vanya. She has the medical experience, and she’s not exactly the most terrifying of his siblings to wake up to. So, he hops off of the counter, goes to kiss Dave’s forehead, and leaves.

A half-hour later, he heads back into the room, to find Vanya and Dave sitting and talking like old friends. 

Both of their heads snap over to Klaus and the room goes silent. Dave looks almost unsure for a second as Klaus just stands in awe before rushing over and nearly launching himself at Dave, “Careful,” Vanya warns, standing and quietly leaving the couple to reunite in private. Ben, although incorporeal, follows her.

Klaus clings to Dave for a few minutes before letting go and cupping his cheek, looking his face over, sobbing all the while, “You’re here, I can’t believe- you’re here,” he cries and Dave pulls him back into his arms for another short-lived hug. 

He then pulls back, grabbing Klaus’s hand, “I’m here. I- this is the future?! This is _insane_! I can’t bel- I mean, I’m here!” he cheers, getting a little more excited than Klaus is comfortable with, but he’s not willing to tell the un-dead guy to calm down, “Klaus,” he mumbles, putting his hand on Klaus’s face, “I’m here.”

Klaus chokes of a sob, “You’re here,” he whispers, “you’re really here. I- God, I missed you,” he wails, throwing himself back at Dave, “I missed you so much, and- and I,” he breaks down crying then, so hard that he can’t even get a word out.

Dave collects him into his arms, “I missed you, too, my love,” he whispers, and it only takes Klaus a minute to calm down and pull back.

Dave wipes underneath Klaus’s eyes, “You were only away from me for a few minutes while you were awake,” he laughs.

“It felt like an eternity,” Dave responds, “speaking of which,” he mumbles, looking back up at Klaus, “do I have to go back? You know, once I’m better. Since I’m not really supposed to be here,” he drawls on, waiting for some form of a response.

Klaus processes what he’s asking before leaning forward and kiss him, “You’re never going back there,” he says, pressing his forehead to Dave’s, “ever. You’re staying right here with me,” he vows. 

Dave leans back, “It won’t mess up the timeline?” he asks nervously, reaching for Klaus’s hands.

Klaus shakes his head, “Screw the timeline.”

“What about Five? If he says I have to go back? He made it sound like he’s kind of the expert on this whole time-travel thing,” he bites at the inside of his cheek, squeezing Klaus’s hands.

Klaus sits for a minute and thinks, “I’ll have to rally the team together, then. Five likes Vanya the best out of all of us, and she seemed pretty supportive of having you here, so we’ll just have to convince her to vouch for us,” he says, then leans forward to rest his forehead against Dave’s again, “now, stop psyching yourself out before we talk to Five some more,” he scolds, tilting his head back to kiss him again before going back to their old position.

They sit like this for a minute until Vanya comes running back in, “Five and Diego want a family meeting, if you can walk, Dave,” she says, breathlessly, hanging on the doorframe.

He looks over at Klaus and nods, “Yeah, I think I can. I might need some help,” he says, and both Klaus and Vanya come to his side. He’s surprisingly steady on his feet for his condition, “I think I’m good,” he says as both of them hold his arms gently.

Reluctantly, Vanya lets go, but Klaus links their arms, “Prepare yourself- I can’t being to describe how messy this could get,” he laughs.

Dave chuckles, “I’m sure it won’t be too bad,” he dismisses, leaning into Klaus a little bit.

Vanya, from the doorway, says, “Oh, you have _no_ idea, Dave. Just wait and see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here's some info: 
> 
> \- 99-100 degrees Fahrenheit is 37.2-37.7 degrees in Celsius.  
> \- I have another headcanon that Vanya was helping Grace in the infirmary a lot as a kid. Since she didn't go on missions, I imagine she had a lot of free time and didn't want to be lonely.  
> \- Dave is baby.
> 
> That's all! Please leave kudos and comment!


	4. I will be forever yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave's first Hargreeves family meeting. 
> 
> (I tried to make this mostly funny, hopefully it worked!)

Klaus walks slowly with Dave to the living room; while Dave’s injury had almost completely healed over, he’s still recovering from it- to be honest, Klaus isn’t even sure he should be walking.

Everyone goes silent when they walk in, turning to look at them, “Hallo,” Klaus greets, waving at everyone. Luther is the only one who waves back. 

Klaus helps Dave lower himself down onto the couch, which he does with an ‘oof’, before sitting down beside him, “So, Dave, meet family. Family, meet Dave,” he says, squeezing Dave’s shoulder, “that one over there is-” Dave interrupts him.

“Wait, lemme guess,” he says, wincing as he sits himself up a little more. “I’ve met Vanya already,” he says, offering her a smile. She’s quick to return it before he moves on, “I’m guessing you’re Diego,” he says, looking to, of course, Diego.

He nods, standing and walking to the couch. For a second, Klaus panics- Diego is probably most likely to play ‘Kill the Boyfriend’. Before he has a chance to latch his hand onto Dave’s, Diego holds out his hand, “Nice to meet you, man,” he says, and before anyone can show their shock, he adds, “if you hurt my brother, well… I throw knives for fun.”

“Diego!” both Allison and Vanya scold as he walks back to his seat in the armchair by the window.

Five looks over at him, exasperated, “Just because you play Batman in your spare time doesn’t mean you should threaten people’s boyfriends,” he says, “but, to make it known, I was an assassin,” he says, shooting a pointed look at Dave.

Diego glares at him, “Look who’s talking, now! And, I’m not doing that stuff anymore,” he says, and when everyone whips their heads around to look at him, he shrugs, “What?! Patch asked me to stop,” he says, looking down.

It goes silent, and Klaus breaks it, “Okay, next person! No more threats, please, I believe we can save that for later,” he continues, looking around at the rest of his siblings.

Dave’s smiling when Klaus turns to look at him again. He sits up straighter than before, now, having a new sense of confidence, “Allison, Five, and Luther. And, wherever Ben is,” he lists, not stopping for anything but to point at the sibling he names.

Klaus smiles, looking at all of his shocked siblings before he manifests Ben, who’s sitting on the back of the chair Diego is in.

“Hi, nice to meet you,” he says, closing the book that’s open on his lap, “thank you for acknowledging my presence. Unlike _some_ people,” he says, shooting a pointed look at Allison.

She leans back, holding her hands up in surrender, “I swear, I didn’t know you were sitting there,” she says, and Klaus looks at her in question, “I accidentally… _stole_ Ben’s chair this morning at breakfast,” she says, “I didn’t realize until it got _very cold_.”

Klaus snorts, which makes Dave laugh, and the entire family looks at them like they’ve lost their minds. Klaus stops abruptly after a second, turning to Diego, “So, why do we need a meeting?” he asks.

Diego turns to Five, “Well, we’re wondering what the plan is,” he says, “we thought we’d discuss it.”

Vanya’s head snaps up to him, “What plan?” she asks, starting to look defensive- she’d been a little overprotective of Klaus lately, as he had of her. They realized that they were similar in how they used to be viewed by their siblings (they were getting better about it, thankfully) and had quickly started bonding with each other more.

Diego shrugs, “I mean, like, are you guys gonna stay here, or do you want help finding an apartment, or… wait, are you staying? Like in this time?” he asks, and Dave turns to Klaus.

Five starts talking before Klaus can get a word out, “He doesn’t have a choice. He has to stay,” he says, and everyone turns to him, some people in confusion. “By returning him, it would change the course of events. It could damage the timeline,” he explains.

Klaus turns back to Dave, smiling at him, “See? I told you,” he says, reaching over and taking Dave’s hand.

He then turns to his family, still keeping a hold of Dave’s hand, “If it would be alright, I think I’d like to stay here,” he decides, glancing over to Dave, who nods in encouragement. “We just started being a family, you know? I want to be a part of that for as long as I can,” he says, his eyes growing sad.

Vanya speaks up from where she’s sitting on the arm of the couch, “You’ll always be a part of that. Moving away doesn’t make you any less our brother,” she assures, “not that I’m trying to get you out or anything,” she quickly states.

He nods, smiling up at her, “Still, you know,” he shrugs, “It would be nice to stay for a little while,” he says, turning to Dave. “If that’s okay with you,” he adds, and Dave nods, smiling at him.

Klaus then turns to his family, “In that case,” he says, looking around, “I think we’re in need of a renovation! Get rid of all of papa dearest’s garbage and get some light in here,” he drawls.

Everyone, even Luther, nods.

Klaus turns to Ben, “Alright, then! It’s unanimous! When should we start?”

“I think we should wait another day or so,” he says, “Eudora lives for breaking things, I think she’d really enjoy it. I wanna introduce her to you guys, first, though. And, if Dave wants to participate, he should probably be a little more recovered,” he says.

Five nods, “I agree,” he says, “we should wait a bit. I want to go get some new clothes, first,” he says. 

Klaus squints his eyes in confusion, “What’s that got to do with breaking stuff?” he asks.

Five smirks, shooting him a knowing look, “Because it would be nice to burn some of this stuff, and I never want to wear another one of these freakin’ uniforms again,” he explains.

Dave looks horrified for a second, “ _Burn_ it? That seems… extreme,” he says, looking around.

“All the more reason,” Ben says, smiling, “we _live_ for extreme, and our dad was a major prick," he explains, as if Dave hasn't already heard the horror stories from Klaus's childhood, "Also, you know, _fire_ ,” he says, just as Grace walks in.

She tuts at him, “No starting fires indoors, dear,” she reprimands.

“We’ll go outside, don’t worry, Mama. We’re gonna burn stuff,” he says.

She smiles at him, cautiously, “Be safe, sweethearts,” she says, walking into the foyer.

Dave hasn’t looked more confused since he arrived.


	5. Wait for me to come home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and Eudora meet. They bond over their love for the Hargreeves brothers. 
> 
> Family meeting: the writing of Home Renovation: starring The Hargreeves family.

“Hey, guys!” Eudora calls from the foyer, taking off her leather jacket and walking into the living room, where the entire family sits- Diego had given her a key to the house about a week before ( _“You should be able to come visit,” he’d said_ ) and she’d only used it once or twice since.

The sudden interruption causes everyone to look up from what they’ve gathered to work on this time, “Oh, hi, Eudora,” Vanya greets, and everyone else does the same as she takes a seat beside Diego, on the arm of his chair.

“What are we working on?” she asks, looking at Klaus, who’s crouched over the coffee table, pen in hand and notepad filled with scribbles.

Diego shifts in his chair to put his hand on her back, “Making a list of stuff that we wanna get rid of,” he explains shortly.

Ben appears standing right beside her, effectively scaring her to the point where she nearly tips over onto Diego, “This is just the bare minimum, though. We’re probably gonna find more stuff to burn, too,” he adds, sitting down on the chair beside the one that Diego is in. 

Eudora nods, looking down at the paper, before turning her attention to Dave, who’s sitting on the couch to the left of Klaus, “You must be Dave,” he snaps his attention up to her.

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, standing and walking over to shake her hand, “nice to meet you. Eudora, right?” he asks.

She nods, “Yep,” she confirms, “nice to meet you, Dave,” she says, smiling. He walks back to the couch, sitting back down beside Klaus, “how much are we setting on fire?” 

Dave takes the liberty of looking over Klaus’s shoulder at the list, “It looks like about the entirety of the paintings- spare the ones in Grace’s current area, which are being moved once we set up a room for her- and then… well, it looks like just about everything downstairs,” he chuckles, looking up at her.

Vanya looks up between Diego and Klaus, who have been helping her train since the almost-apocalypse, “Do you guys think I could- you know- boom?” she asks, fumbling over her words a little bit.

They’d been trying to keep her training slow. She’d been wary of even _trying_ to train at first, arguing that she should just look into a different medication, but nobody had agreed with that. So, with the fear of exploding again, she’d promised to try as long as it was in small increments. 

The two boys shoot a look towards each other, before Diego shrugs, “If you want to. We can be ready in case something happens,” he says.

Klaus nods, turning to face her, “Bring in the gong, baby!” he exclaims, earning a laugh- or at least a smile- from everyone present. He smiles and straightens out, proud of himself, before relaxing, “seriously, though. If you want to go further, we’ll be there.”

Vanya smiles shyly at him, grateful, “Thanks, guys,” she whispers, before jumping with an idea, “Ooh, we should get rid of the personal training rooms, too!”

As soon as she says it, Klaus whips around and starts scribbling on the paper.

Allison smiles up at Vanya, “Good idea, sis,” she beams, “maybe we could turn the old training rooms into other things? Maybe an art room, a movie room- oh, maybe we could make _new_ training rooms? For those of us who still train, of course,” she suggests- Klaus flips to a new page to add these new ideas.

The meeting ends soon after this, Klaus having made the excuse of needing to go get food- it’s obvious to everyone there that he didn’t actually want to go get food, but he’d done everything in his power to get everyone to leave him alone ( _“I’m alright, I think I’d like to walk,” he’d said. “I’ll come with you,” Dave had responded, but Klaus shook his head, “It’s okay- I’ll be back soon.”_ ). 

This leaves the rest of the family in the house, mostly sitting around in the living room- nobody likes to be too far away from the rest of the family while someone is already out on their own. They’d all learned their lesson in teamwork during Apocalypse week. 

Eudora stands from the armchair, leaving Diego to continue his conversation with Vanya (Eudora thinks it’s about her powers, but she hasn’t been listening enough to be sure). She walks over to the couch, sitting beside Dave, “You doin’ okay?” she asks, seeing the way he’s checked out, sitting by himself, braced against his knees- not unlike Diego when he’s upset.

He looks up at her and sits back, leaning against the couch, “I’m worried about him,” he admits, turning his eyes to the cushion, “I know he needs his space, but I really- I just wanna run after him, ya know?” he starts picking at a loose thread on the couch as he talks.

She nods, “I know,” and both of them glance over at Diego, who’s too wrapped up in conversation to notice, “they’re not much for talking about feelings, are they?” 

Dave lets out a small chuckle at that, “No, they’re not,” he sighs, rubbing over his face with one of his hands, “at least, not the bad ones,” he adds.

“Not that bad ones,” Eudora agrees. There’s a moment of silence before she says anything else, “He’ll be back soon. He loves you too much to stay out for long,” she says, reaching over and squeezing his shoulder.

Dave nods, leaning back. He repeats Eudora’s words in his head until he hears the front door open thirty minutes later.

He has to will himself not to jump up and go make sure that Klaus is okay.

Klaus walks in a few seconds later, holding bags of food, which he sets down on the coffee table before sitting beside Dave and reaching over to hug him, “I’m sorry,” he mumbles into his shoulder, squeezing him extra tight. 

Dave holds him until he eases up on his grip, then he pulls him back just enough to see his face, “What do you mean, you’re sorry?” he asks, reaching up to touch Klaus’s face. 

“I shouldn’t have pushed you away,” he whispers, trying to shake his head- it’s not easy with Dave’s hand on his face, however.

Dave shakes his head, “You needed time to yourself. I get it,” he mumbles, pulling Klaus back to him.

They sit like that until Dave can feel Klaus’s stomach rumbling against his own and pulls Klaus off of him to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked this one!
> 
> Get ready for the destroying of Reggie's stuff next chapter! (I'm so excited to write that, you have no idea).


	6. Something is scratching it's way out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home renovation day! Lots of feelings.
> 
> There'll be more home renovation, but first, feelings.

The next day, Five walks into the kitchen wearing one of Diego’s ratty old shirts and a pair of Vanya’s old academy pajama bottoms- he’d stolen them this morning, figuring that Vanya wouldn’t care and Diego wasn’t here to kill him, anyway.

He finds all of his siblings, save for Diego, sitting at the kitchen table. Instead of sitting with them, however, he makes a beeline for the coffee maker. “Who made the coffee?” he asks, taking down a cup- Vanya’s coffee is the only one he’ll drink, so far.

“Dave did,” Klaus says, “Vanya showed him how, though,” he promises, and Five nods, taking a cup of it. He might as well try it before he decides that Dave’s coffee is unworthy. 

When he turns around, everyone, including Dave, is looking at him like he’s grown a second head, “What?” he asks, taking a sip of what’s in his mug. He smiles a little bit, looking over at Dave, “I can see a future as a barista for you,” he says, going to sit down. 

Dave smiles at him, “Oh, well, thanks,” he blushes, looking down at the table. 

Klaus gasps, “We still have to take you to Starbucks!” he exclaims.

Allison’s head snaps up and she stares at him, hard expression, “You haven’t taken him to Starbucks? He’s been here for _days_ , Klaus! Are you trying to make him suffer,” she scolds.

Klaus shakes his head, “Must’ve slipped my mind,” he excuses, “we’ll go later,” he promises, reaching out and squeezing Dave’s hand.

Five shakes his head, setting his mug down on the table, “I can go get it, if someone gives me money,” he offers, looking between his siblings. Allison is the first to react, grabbing her wallet from the counter and holding out her card.

He reaches for it, but she pulls it back before he can, “Do _not_ buy straight espresso for him,” she warns, giving Five a death glare.

He sighs, stomping a bit, “What am I supposed to buy, then?” he asks, glaring at her.

“They have really good caramel macchiatos,” Luther suggests, earning agreement from each of his other siblings, “maybe he’ll work his way up to pure espresso,” he shrugs.

Five nods, looking between each of his other siblings, “Okay. Anything else?” he asks.

Vanya perks up at that, “Can you get me a mint tea?” she asks, and everyone in the kitchen sighs.

“You had coffee already, Van’,” Klaus argues, and she glares at him, “don’t enable her, Five,” he jokes, staring up at his brother.

Five stares at Vanya for a second, with her puppy dog eyes, fighting with himself, “A _small_ ,” he says, before jumping out of the room.

Diego walks in about a minute later, Eudora standing next to him, “Hey,” he greets, going to sit beside Vanya. Eudora takes the seat next to him, “where’s Five?” he asks, taking a scone from the middle of the table.

“Dave hasn’t had Starbucks,” Vanya says, turning to face him, “he went to get some really quick,” she explains, leaning back against her chair. 

Diego nods, “Ah,” he says in understanding, just before Five appears right in front of him, “Wha-! Don’t _do that_!” he stresses, yelling at him.

Five laughs and hands Dave and Vanya their drinks, before sitting with his family at the table.

* * *

Two hours later, they all stand in Reginald’s office, staring up at the painting of him that still hangs above his desk, “What kind of self-centered prick hangs a photo of themselves in their study?” Eudora asks, arms crossed, glaring at the painting.

Klaus giggles, turning to look at her, “Why, papa dearest, of course!” he exclaims, “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, _that_ is _not_ the only one,” he announces, pointing at the painting in question, “they litter our home, and today’s purpose is to make them all,” he pauses, letting go of Dave’s hand, “ _disappear_ ,” he does jazz hands, and both Dave and Eudora let out a chuckle.

There’s a moment of silence, in which the entire family stares up at the painting.

Diego then turns to Vanya, “Wanna do the honors?” 

She looks hesitant for a second, before a wicked grin shows up on her face and she nods. 

He smiles, patting her on the back. Him and Klaus usher everyone to the sides of the room to give her space.

They all watch as the room slowly starts to get windy, as Vanya’s eyes go white, and as the painting on the wall comes flying off of it and barrelling into the taxidermied deer head on the opposing wall, successfully breaking a hole through their father’s head, all while knocking down the deer.

The wind keeps blowing, even if no other objects go flying. Klaus pulls himself away from Dave, who’s been holding onto his arm, and approaches Vanya. He steps behind her and slowly puts his hand on her back, “Van’,” he says, and the room calms. She turns around to face him, her eyes fading back to brown, “good job!” he exclaims, pulling her into his arms.

Diego smiles, walking into the middle of the room, “That was record timing,” he says, patting her on the back.

“Thanks,” she beams, breathless. She looks between her two brothers, smiling bigger than they ever saw as kids, “I wanna do it again,” she pants, and Klaus laughs, leading her out of the room and into the hallway.

* * *

As the day goes on, they split apart at portions, going off to clear out their own things that they wanted to get rid of, and occasionally going to take care of something else on the list. In the mid-afternoon, they all end up in the training rooms.

Five’s old room is the first to go.

Vanya starts it off, using her power to break apart pieces of his old obstacle course enough that people could clear them out by carrying them.

They slowly make their way through all of the specialized rooms, and end up at the elevator to the basement, which Vanya hadn’t destroyed yet in this timeline.

Klaus turns to look at her, putting his hand on her shoulder, “Are you sure you wanna do this? Go back down here again?” he asks.

She nods, smiling hesitantly, “I’ll be glad when it’s gone,” she promises, reaching up and squeezing his hand, “I’ll be okay,” she promises. He reaches his arm around her, pulling her to him from the side, “just, um- everyone get out if it gets too shaky, okay? I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” she says.

“We will,” Diego promises, nodding. He reaches out and pulls her into a super tight hug, “be safe, okay? Stop if you feel yourself slipping,” he says, and she nods, leaning back and squeezing his hand before entering the elevator. 

Allison smiles tearfully as Vanya steps in, turning around to face them. Vanya waves at her from the elevator as the doors close, which breaks the floodgates and Allison starts openly weeping. Dave reaches out and puts a hand on her arm and Klaus pulls her into a hug before leading her to sit down in a chair by the table. 

He takes out his list and checks off ‘basement room’ before putting the paper down in his lap and wrapping his arm back around Allison. 

This, however, gives Diego a perfect vantage point to see the rest of the list, and therefore, the last item on it. He snatches it up and looks at the last word, before turning it around for Klaus to see, “What is this?” he asks, pointing at Klaus’s scrawled out ‘mausoleum??’ at the bottom of the page.

He looks up at him, “It’s, uh,” he mumbles, groaning, “do we really have to discuss this?” he asks, and Allison pulls herself from his arms to read the paper.

Dave is the person who responds, shockingly, “Yes, we do,” he says, “what does this mean?” he asks, handing the paper back to Klaus.

Klaus groans, covering his hand over his eyes, “I- Okay,” he takes a deep breath, “when I was little, my- well, my personal training was…” he takes another deep breath, trying not to think too hard about it, “Dad locked me in the mausoleum,” he blurts, “I was just- it was stupid. It’s just an idea. To destroy it.”

His entire family, including Dave and Eudora, look at him like they’ve just received the most horrifying news of their lives.

Vanya then steps off of the elevator, which none of them had realized had opened, “Destroy what?” she asks.

Clearly, Klaus has a little more explaining to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know what to say... next chapter will be fun? 
> 
> Be prepared- these reactions will be _interesting_.


	7. This is not the end of me (this is the beginning)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this immediately follows the last chapter. no other information because i don't wanna spoil it. 
> 
> TW: Panic attacks- pretty descriptive, I would be careful!  
> TW: Mentions of vomit

“What do you _mean_ , Dad locked you in the mausoleum?” Luther asks, absolutely seething- Klaus can’t tell if his anger is directed towards himself or Reginald, but seeing his brother this tense… it almost reminds him of a time that he threw him across a room.

Vanya stops, putting her hands up, “Wait, what?!” she asks, staring down at Klaus, “He locked you _where_?” 

Klaus looks up at his family, his whole family, and his suddenly, he takes note of how hard his heart is beating. 

Dave doesn’t look anything less than pissed, as well as… well, everyone else. Allison has a more concerned than angry, but she happens to be the only one.

Even Ben appears to be angry- why are they all angry with him? He didn’t _ask_ to be locked away, he didn’t want it, he _doesn’t_ want _it_.

He feels his eyes burning and he can’t imagine that he looks anything less than pathetic, and for the first time in a while, he doesn’t want anyone looking at him, he just wants to go to his room and be alone so that his family doesn’t have to see him cry- he doesn’t want to make them more upset, he just wants to _go_. 

“I-” he manages to choke out, “I need to g-go,” he stands, pushing past the people crowded around him and leaves the room. 

He manages to hold in the sob building inside his throat until he gets to his room.

He sits down on the floor against the side of the bed, pulling his knees to his chest.

Why couldn’t he have just left the mausoleum off of the list? It wasn’t like he’d really planned on telling them about it, and now he’s left alone, and they’ll probably make him leave for keeping secrets, and he’ll never get to come back because they’ll all think he’s relapsed, and Dave won’t want to ever see him again-

He almost throws up right there on the floor. 

_So much for getting rid of everyone’s torture chambers._

He reaches a point where he’s not even shaking as he cries anymore- he’s in a state of pure, pained tension. 

He thinks back to when they were downstairs- all of them in the room together, as a family, and Vanya was getting on the elevator to go to the basement. The basement with the room that Luther had locked his sister in- it had reminded him so much of being locked in the mausoleum as a kid. 

Why had Luther put her there, again?

He thought she was dangerous. She _was_ dangerous. 

Is he dangerous, too? What’s the most dangerous thing he’s done? He manifested Ben, who slaughtered four men at once, during what they’ve been calling Vanya’s ‘Apocalypse Suite’. 

So, yes, then.

Which gives them a reason to lock him back up, now that they know where to do it.

“ _No_ ,” he sobs out, “No, no, no,” he claws at his arms, trying to gain some feeling _somewhere_ beside the tightness he has in his chest, “please,” he cries, “I won’t do it again, I promise, _please_.”

He hears a knock on his door and scrambles into the corner against the wall. 

The door opens, “Go _away, please_ ,” he pleads, curling in on himself, “I’ll go- I won’t do it again, _please_.”

They don’t go away. Instead, he hears the footsteps getting closer- they’re too soft to be Luther’s. But, then again, they all know how to make their steps silent.

He feels his face prickling in fear as whoever it is comes closer.

“It’s just me,” he hears Vanya say, “and, whatever you did, it’s okay,” he hears her sit next to him. “We’ll work it out,” she promises, and he feels a hand on his arm.

He decides that maybe Vanya is the best person to have with him right now- her hand on his arm doesn’t even make him want to slap it off.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” she mumbles, “we were all worried when you ran out,” she turns to face him more and is quiet for a minute.

He moves his arms away from his head and sees her expression change to pure concern, “Oh, Klaus,” she mumbles, holding out her arms. He maneuvers himself so that he can properly fall into them and curls in to put his head on her chest.

She kisses his head, holding him tight as he continues to cry into her shirt, “I promise you, it’s gonna be okay,” she mumbles against his hair, “it’s all gonna be okay.”

They sit like this until Klaus has calmed down, and then until he’s starting to notice his back hurting from being bent over. He sits up, pulling away from her and wiping his cheeks with his wrists.

“Sorry,” he chuckles, leaning back against the bed.

She shakes her head, putting her hand on his leg, “It’s okay,” she brushes off, squeezing his leg.

After a few minutes, his breathing evens out completely, and she looks up at him, “So… wanna go blow up a crypt?” she asks.

His eyes widen, “Really?” he breathes. Whatever he had been expecting to happen, it sure hadn’t been that.

She nods, “Of course!” she stands, helping him up, “We’re not done until we’ve destroyed _all_ of the training rooms,” she assures, squeezing his hand, “ _all of them_.”

He smiles and nods, allowing her to lead him out of the room.

* * *

“I still can’t believe that Dad locked you in a freaking mausoleum,” Diego says, stepping out of the car, “you’d think somebody would’ve figured it out,” he shakes his head, staring into the graveyard.

Klaus nods, looking across at their target building, “You really would, wouldn’t you?” he agrees.

He turns to Vanya, who’s grabbed his hand, “Are you sure you want to be here for this? You can stay in the car,” she offers.

Klaus shakes his head, “No, I want to watch,” he assures, walking up to the gate and opening it, “after you, dearest sister,” he says, gesturing into the graveyard.

She gives him a nervous smile- clearly, she’s trying to reassure him. It’s nice of her, and if he can get out of the graveyard without having another panic attack, he’ll call it a win.

They walk over to the mausoleum- him, Klaus, Diego, and Dave (who had refused _not_ to come). They stop and Vanya stands outside, “I would back up,” she warns, “the goal is absolute demolition- it’s not gonna be anything small,” she says.

Diego looks hesitant, but Klaus pushes both him and Dave back, almost to the gate. 

They feel the wind pick up, and within seconds, the mausoleum is no more. 

They all wince, closing their eyes, and then when they open them-

“Vanya?” Diego calls, looking around at the scene in front of them.

Klaus’s eyes go wide and he runs forward, “Van’?!” he calls, looking around.

His sister- there’s no way. She’s still around somewhere, she _has_ to be. It’d be easier to find her if she _was_ dead, for God’s sake.

“Vanya!” he calls out, “Come on, it’s not funny! Where are you?” 

A little further ahead, he sees something that _could_ be her move- thankfully, not close enough to the remains of the mausoleum to have been pinned down. He hears a cough and runs over, collapsing beside her.

“Van’?,” he says, sitting beside her and putting his hand on her face.

She opens her eyes and lets out a little cough before smiling up at him, “I’m okay. I’m okay,” she says, sitting up with his help, “guess I’ve done that a little too much today,” she chuckles, wiping at her face.

He smacks her arm, “That’s not funny! You scared me!” he scolds before pulling her into his arms.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles, wrapping her arms around his neck, “I didn’t mean to.”

He sighs, burying his face in her hair, “I know,” he leans back, “thank you,” he puts his hand on her shoulder.

She nods, leaning against him, “We weren’t done yet,” she mumbles. She sits up and smiles sleepily at him, “Carry me?” she asks, holding her arms out.

He laughs, reaching out and picking her up before standing, “Off we go,” he calls, a bounce to his step as he walks out to the car, Diego and Dave following shortly.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment, it motivates me to write more :)


End file.
